Recognizing cultural differences

Recognizing cultural differences

It is useful to be able to recognize cultural differences. A person in south India nods his head in affirmation differently from a north Indian. If one is not aware of it, it is very easy to take no for yes. In USA, one cannot call a spade a spade because in the American slang, spade is used for black American. Similarly an Australian may compliment someone by saying that „he is a good bastard‟ whereas it may offend an Indian. A few major aspects of culture that distinguish them are:

(i) Religion

North Americans in USA and Canada follow puritan religion and are influenced by their ethics although both the countries have a large number of immigrants settling from many countries of the world. They view material comfort as a sign of superiority and believe money can solve many problems. There are also many societies who condemn materialism.

(ii) Values

People in countries like USA and Canada are more goal-oriented and want work to be done efficiently. It may not be so in India and South Asian countries where unemployment is very high. Managers tend to employ two persons where one would suffice.

(iii) Role play

Culture determines the role people play – what they communicate to whom and in what way. For example in some cultures women play a significant role in business whereas it is not so in Middle East and North African countries.

(iv) Decision making

In many countries in the west, business is dominated by one person, often the CEO who says yes or no to many decisions / deals as is the case in USA and even in Pakistan. In China and Japan, decision-making is a laborious process of reaching consensus otherwise they do not feel comfortable with the decision.

(v) Social behaviour and etiquettes

Culture has deep influence on the social behaviour and etiquettes of the people. Polite manners in one country may be considered to be rude in another. These rules of etiquettes may be formal or informal. Formal rules can be learnt and taught, for example, table manners etc. Informal rules are more difficult to identify and are learnt by observation and then emulating them. Informal rules relate to:
 How males and females should behave
 When and how people can touch one another
 When it is appropriate to call a person by first name
Violation of these informal rules can cause a great deal of discomfort although people loathe talking about them.

(vi) Concept of time

People from USA and Europe tend to be more particular about time – they also want to clinch deals quickly. It is not so in most of Asia, Mexico and Latin America. Japanese are aware of American impatience and say, „You Americans have one terrible weakness. If we make to wait long enough, you will agree to anything‟. Also called „chronomics‟, it is emerging as a new area of interest for distinguishing the attitude of people from different cultures towards time and timing.